Practical Tips & Traps for Better Building Enclosures Presented by Lew Harriman Thursday October 28, 2010 12-1PM PST A joint effort of the American Institute of Architects and the Building Enclosure Council

In the past, the building enclosure has often been where architecture meets engineering and construction in a family feud of confusion over responsibilities, sometimes resulting in water leakage, energy waste and construction defect litigation. Past practices are not going to work in the future. Feuds are too expensive and they rot the souls of dedicated designers and builders. This webinar will focus on a few practical tips, as well as a discussion on traps to avoid which help the building use less energy and last a long time, while providing the comfort that the public deserves. The ultimate key to successful thermal performance of building enclosures may be in a practical tip that comes from both President Ronald Reagan and Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, the founding Director of the Soviet KGB.

In 2006, Lew was the Chief Thermographer and lead author for the General Service Administration's Protocol for the Exterior Inspection of Building Enclosures Using Thermal Cameras. He also serves as a National Peer in GSA's Design and Engineering Excellence program. In 2009, Lew was the lead author and project manager for the ASHRAE Guide for Buildings in Hot & Humid Climates, a book which summarizes the experiences of building professionals in hot and humid climates around the world, and also summarizes ASHRAE guidance on ventilation, energy efficiency, thermal comfort and mold risk reduction with respect to hot and humid climates. In addition to his research and consulting, Lew is a teacher. He has developed instructional curricula and taught courses in humidity control and moisture management in the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Pacific. He is also Vice Chair of ASHRAE Technical Committee 1.12 - Moisture Management in Buildings, and Chair of the ASHRAE Position Document Committee on Indoor Mold.

The cost for the Webinar is $10. Payment can be made at the door or checks can be made out to Portland BEC and can be mailed c/o The Facade Group: 707 SW Washington St. Suite 1000 Portland, OR 97205

Many of the 60 million housing units in the United States built before 1960 will soon need major systems replaced. A new web seminar from the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Enclosure Council and the American Institute of Architects offers timely techniques for residential energy retrofit work, particularly applicable for older building stock.

The "Deep Energy Retrofits for Existing Homes - Concord House Case Study" webinar will be held on Tuesday, May 4, 2;00 -3:30 pm ET. Taught by Betsy Pettit, FAIA, an architect involved in modernization and redevelopment of thousands of homes and multifamily buildings, the presentation will focus on enclosure design and construction details that help to achieve greater energy efficiency. Pettit will present a case study of a house in Concord, Mass., that was retrofitted to reduce its overall energy use by more than 30 percent. Pettit is principal with Building Science Corporation, a Boston-based architecture and building science consulting firm. She serves as project manager on a U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America team, which is exploring pathways to zero energy homes by the year 2020. What You’ll Learn from this Webinar: • How to evaluate the existing conditions of older homes • How to set goals for energy reductions in older homes • How to reduce energy use through enclosure improvements and system upgrades in older homes • How to develop a multi-phase plan that allows for energy use reductions in older homes over time One rate - unlimited attendees! Purchase one site license for the webinar and invite as many people as you can gather at your office, conference room, or auditorium to attend. Webinar Licenses: AIA Members: $75 Non-Members: $100

A three day event, comprising three tracks (Energy Efficiency/Whole Building/Fenestration) that will provide a focus on specific aspects of performance of building systems with a view to high energy efficiency, good indoor climate and long-term performance. The conference will bring together leading research from Europe, Canada and the United States focusing on existing and future buildings. The academic research will be complimented with "real world" applications and case studies. The program will include panel discussions, featured workshops and plenary speakers.

Passive House Northwest’s Annual Spring Conference is just around the corner.  The conference will be held in Olympia, Washington on March 29-30 and features a great lineup of speakers and vendors making this a valuable event for professionals dedicated to high performance building design and construction.  Please see the attached flyer and schedule for more information.  Early Bird Registration ends Wednesday, March 14, so reserve your spot soon!

Since the beginning of the pandemic, building enclosures have received closer scrutiny, with everyone from consumers to building professionals to local and federal government, wanting to know more about their technologies and performance.

The BESTfest seminar brings together industry leaders and experts to discuss how the Building Enclosure Science & Technology field has changed since COVID-19 shook the world.

This four-hour virtual program is brought to you by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC) , alongside the Building Enclosure Council (BEC) chapter networks.

Building enclosures are expected to be durable and provide a degree of environmental separation. They increasingly must focus on energy efficiency, daylighting, indoor air quality, fire safety, thermal comfort, and carbon footprint. Now, there’s a need to explicitly ensure these performance objectives are fully defined in the planning and design stage and efficiently executed through construction and operations.

As construction technology has become more complex and standards are more demanding, now is the time to hold a broader conversation on innovations in the field. Our panel will discuss changes in materials and methods that have resulted from the latest technology advancements. Please join us as we continue on the shared mission of BETEC and the BEC Chapters to transform the vision of building enclosure design into the built form.

Schedule (All Times Pacific) 9 AM - 1 PM

• 9:10 – 9:55 Achieving Zero Carbon
• 9:55 – 10:25 The Best of What's New in the Building Enclosure Thermal Bridging Guide
• 10:35 – 11:05 Trends for Healthy, High-Performance Buildings in the Post-Covid Age
• 11:05 – 11:35 Utah's Ultra-High Performance Building Standard Enclosure Program
• 11:45 – 12:15 ASTM Building Enclosure Commissioning Updates: An Overview and Discussion of Recent Changes to ASTM E2813 & E2947
• 12:15 – 1:00 Round Up: The Best of the BECs and BETEC

This seminar introduces the Building Enclosure Commissioning (BECx) process by outlining key quality based activities that achieve a successful building enclosure. The seminar will include overviews on such design phase BECx activities as developing the Owner’s Project Requirements, the BECx plan, and critical building science and architectural issues to address in the design review and specifications, and construction phase BECx activities such as construction observation and performance testing. The seminar will aid in understanding how BECx contributes towards commissioning goals and requirements and LEED.

Lothar will make a series of expert presentations from Vancouver BC to San Francisco CA. Lothar will present how to build safe, healthy and durable constructions that maximize energy savings, minimize the risk of damage to the structure and prevent mold and rot for wood framed and masonry retrofit assemblies with in-depth discussion of building physics, including WUFI analysis and assembly options specific to our climates in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California.

2 LU

Jonathan Smegal’s work for RDH includes laboratory research, hygrothermal modeling, field monitoring of wall performance, and forensic analysis of building failures. Jonathan has managed more than a dozen full scale field tests of wall and roof performance including test huts, test trailers, test houses, and production homes in various locations throughout North America.

The Orchards at Orenco Passive House project was constructed through the winter of 2014/2015 and occupied in the summer of 2015. Since its construction, thermal and moisture conditions have been monitored continuously in the exterior wall of four different suites, two on the north orientation and two on the south orientation. This presentation will discuss the wall construction and moisture monitoring equipment, and look at nearly two years’ worth of relative humidity, temperature and wood moisture content data. Using this measured data, we will look at the effectiveness of the continuous exterior insulation in controlling heat loss and condensation in the enclosure. We will evaluate the performance of the wall enclosure, and the implications of different variables such as higher interior relative humidity and colder climates.

This presentation is an interactive discussion of glazing systems ranging from a punched window to monumental tension glass walls. The conversation will weave through storefront systems incorporating common stick built curtain wall and custom designed unitized walls. We will cover water management concepts, anchorage methods and how these systems accommodate the critical building movements. Bring your questions and stories for an informative and useful discussion.

This two-day symposium will explore the state of the art of building science and the sustainability of current materials and enclosure designs.

Maria Spinu: This seminar will describe the sources, mechanisms and consequences of air and moisture transport through the building enclosure and concepts for air leakage control, energy efficiency and moisture management in buildings. These critical functions are performed by "The Three Barriers": air, water and vapor barriers. Often a single membrane performs two or sometimes all three functions. This seminar will also discuss the role of each "barrier" and some critical questions you must ask in order to select "the right barriers" for your projects.

Andre Dejarlais: This seminar will describe a variety of real life situations where using hygrothermal modeling can provide insight into the performance of a building envelope component.

Richard Green: There has been little documented work on the capacity of heat strengthened glass in bolted applications. This talk outlines the design process, modeling, analysis, testing and erection procedures executed to successfully implement new technology in one of the world's largest glass walls.

Tom Liptan: Designing with and re-introducing natural elements such as soil, water and vegetation on rooftops, streets, sidewalks and parking lots is showing promise in Portland. These design techniques are being tested on city streets and private development. Monitoring results show effcient management of precipitation and storm water runoff. Other attributes have been observed including and perhaps most important, public acceptance.

Catherine Houska: An unbiased comparative analysis of the factors that determine the relative sustainability of architectural metals is provided using previously unavailable pollution and energy use data from mining and production, typical service life, metal run-off and the probability of end-of-life recapture and recycling. The significant potential impact of the service environment on life-cycle performance and metal choice is discussed and comparative performance data is provided.